The owner of Umi Sushi doesn't seem to have much regard for anything African Americans have to say in regards to discrimination at his restaurant.
Umi Sushi in Buckhead has come under fire — with people calling for a boycott of the sushi restaurant — over its dress code policy, which an Atlanta couple alleges was used to discriminate against them.
On Friday, October 23, Kaylan Colbert and her husband, William Johnson, say that they arrived early for their 5:15 p.m. reservation at Umi Sushi and were told by management that Johnson was in violation of the restaurant’s dress code for wearing white Nike Air Force 1 sneakers. After an exchange regarding the policy with management, the couple was denied service and asked to leave.
The situation devolved further when Umi owner Farshid Arshid got involved.
Colbert, who is a personal injury attorney in Atlanta, appeared on Fox 5 Atlanta Thursday night to discuss the incident. In the interview, Colbert says the couple was unaware sneakers were a violation of the dress code policy — she alleges that Johnson had worn the same sneakers to the restaurant before without incident — and were willing to comply when Johnson noticed a woman seated at the bar in sneakers.
“If you’re going to have rules, they should apply to everyone, and not just some people,” Colbert told Fox 5.
The restaurant’s dress code policy as listed on its website states that Umi prohibits ball caps, sneakers, athletic wear, and sports jerseys, along with shorts, flip flops, and tank tops for men, specifically when worn inside. It also states the dress code is “strictly enforced.”
But the couple feels the dress code policy is arbitrarily enforced, and confronted management and ownership about other people being allowed to dine in while wearing sneakers. Videos Colbert posted to Instagram of the October 23 incident appear to show a woman seated at the bar wearing silver tennis shoes. Johnson points out to a staff member that the woman is wearing “Adidas sneakers,” asking why she is allowed to be seated but he is not.
“We were standing by her, but they are refusing to look down at her shoes to confirm that she has on sneakers,” Colbert tells Eater. “At one point, someone does look down and says, ‘They’re high-end sneakers.’ The lady actually kicks her foot out and she said, ‘Yeah, these are Adidas.’”
“Of course owners can make their own rules and decide how they want their restaurants to be run,” Colbert says. “But if you’re not going to enforce those rules on everybody, then yes, it does become a discriminatory practice at that point.”
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